It was the start of what seemed like another typical fine day in Ponyville. Just the sort of day for a pony like Pinkie Pie to pay her new friend Rainbow Dash a visit. True, they had met before and interacted briefly a couple of times, but their first major interaction together had been defeating Nightmare Moon just a few weeks prior.
Now, however, Pinkie had found something she shared in common with Rainbow Dash and had developed a bond of friendship that warranted a visit. She arrived at the unmistakable cloud house that her pegasus friend resided in: All the while wearing silly glasses with swirly eyes, a hat with a fake arrow on it, and a party blower in her mouth.
But instead of being greeted by Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie was surprised and even a little bit shocked to see an unfamiliar looking bird like creature staring down at her from above. The creature had light, brilliant amber eyes that could barely be made out with how much its pupils seemed to be gazing at Pinkie right now. It had gold talons and white feathers on her face, though around its eyes the feathers took on a gray hue.
The bird like creature wasn't content to just stare at Pinkie though, it soon flew down for a closer inspection of that which had caught its attention. Now it was possible to see brown colored wings and lighter brown colored feathers underneath, as well as a beak the same color as the talons. Pinkie had never seen such a creature before and didn't know what to say.
The creature didn't bother waiting to be acknowledged, it cleared its throat and spoke in a gruff sounding female voice. "Hey, whaddya want?! You got somethin' to say?"
Pinkie found it hard to form words. "I... I... who are..."
The creature let out a roar. "I don't have time for this. Say something, or stop wasting my time and go away. What?! You never seen a griffon before?!"
At that Pinkie Pie gasped! "You're a griffon?!"
The "griffon" nodded her head. "Yeah, so what? There an echo out here? All I wanna know is who you are and what you think you're doin' at Rainbow Dash's house. I was here first."
The pink party pony forced back a gulp. "You... know Rainbow Dash?"
The griffon nodded her head again. "I do, and that's why I came all the way out here to Ponyville. Just had to see how my old gal pal was doin' after all these years," And then she demanded as she pulled Pinkie. "Now come on, dweeb! Spit it out, already! You gotta have a name!"
Pinkie finally found the courage to speak up, swallowing a lump that had started to form in her throat upon being all but interrogated by the griffon before her. "Uh... I'm Pinkie Pie, one of Rainbow Dash's friends. In fact, probably her newest friend."
At that the griffon seemed to become defensive. "Huh, so old Rainbow Dash went and made some friends that can't fly. Figures. But you can just go home now, Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash is hanging out with me today."
"Really?" Pinkie asked in a somewhat unhappy tone of voice.
The griffon nodded. "Yeah. I said so, and what I say goes. You'll just have to come back some other time. But don't worry, I'll tell Dash you said hello."
But before the griffon had a chance to follow through on her "request" the familiar voice of Rainbow Dash called out. "Hey, Gilda, ease off on Pinkie Pie will ya? You're scaring her." And then the brash speedster swooped down, determined to intervene in what seemed like a potential conflict brewing.
However, Pinkie found a way to make a smile appear on her face. "Oh, don't be silly. I just thought I'd see if you wanted to hang out again today. You didn't tell me you were seeing another friend."
Rainbow flicked a hoof through her rainbow colored mane. "Wasn't expecting her to drop by. I see you and Gilda have already met though, saves me the trouble."
"You heard right," The griffon boasted. "Gilda's my name, Pinkie Pie. And Rainbow Dash and I, we go way back! Back further than any friend she's ever had before or since."
It was fast becoming clear to Pinkie as she eyed Gilda that the griffon was not so secretly becoming possessive of her friend Rainbow Dash. "Why does Gilda see me as a threat? I haven't done anything to her." She thought to herself. But what even she could not suspect is that Gilda's apparent desire to maintain her friendship with Rainbow Dash would cause a lot of problems, not just for Pinkie Pie but for many ponies.
Not one to let a bad first impression get in the way of trying to befriend someone, Pinkie forced herself to look past Gilda's intimidating ways and ask a question that had just come to mind. "When did Rainbow Dash meet you, Gilda? She's never talked about you before."
Gilda just chuckled and lifted a claw. "We met at Junior Speedsters Flight Camp. I got to be the lucky griffon who was chosen to attend. Was rather cool being the only non-pegasi flyer there."
Rainbow couldn't help but comment. "Yeah, Junior Speedsters were some of the best days of my life," Then she looked across to Gilda. "Hey, you remember the chant they taught us?"
The young griffon rolled her eyes at the suggestion. "How could I forget?" Her tone of voice quickly indicating her overall unhappiness with it. "They made us recite that stupid old thing every morning. Don't know about you but I'll never get that lame chant out of my mind."
The brash speedster was far more enthusiastic about it. "Come on, it wasn't so bad. How about it for old time's sake?"
Reluctantly, Gilda sighed. "Fine, only for you, Rainbow Dash," And then she looked to Pinkie Pie. "Don't you even think of telling anyone about this, got it?"
"Wouldn't dream of it." Pinkie sincerely promised as she then watched the two fliers take to the air. And the chant went something like this (Rainbow's excited tone clashing noticeably with Gilda's bored tone):
Junior Speedsters are our lives!
Soaring skies and daring dives!
Junior Speedsters, it's our quest!
To someday be the very best!
Just like that the chant was over, and while Rainbow was giggling with excitement (and perhaps nostalgia) Gilda was anything but amused. "I'm never doing that again."
The pegasus mare shrugged off the remark. "You've said that before, Gilda. We both know you liked it."
"That was then and this is now," Gilda sighed and decided to quickly change the subject. "So, Dash, what's the deal with Pinkie Pie here? You know her?"
Rainbow nodded while casually remarking. "Yeah, but only a little. We just started paling around a few days ago." And she began to flashback to that day, the memory still fresh and vivid in her mind.
Just like the current day, that day had been an equally uneventful and nice day. The weather was just right and ponies were going about their lives as usual.
It was just the sort of day Rainbow Dash liked, the kind of day where she had nothing to do and could just kick back and take it easy. Or so she thought.
Pinkie Pie was bouncing around town like her normal cheerful self and happened to come across Twilight, who was in the process of picking up some books for her new home in the library. "Hey, Twilight. Have you seen Rainbow Dash around? I wanna ask her something."
Twilight looked up to the sky, spotting the pegasus in question on a cloud almost directly above. "Well, she's just up there. But I think she doesn't want to be disturbed while she's napping."
Pinkie only giggled at the suggestion. "Oh Twilight, you really don't know Rainbow Dash. She's always napping whenever she has nothing else to do. But I just have a quick favor I need her help with it," And she then called out to her sleeping friend. "You who, Rainbow Dash!"
Rainbow woke with a start, briefly startled by her rude awakening! But then she looked down at the ground and happened to see Pinkie Pie. Now, the brash speedster knew Pinkie enough to know that she didn't like being ignored. But the pegasus mare just wasn't in a sort of mood to deal with whatever it was the pink coated party planner wanted. She zoomed away, hoping that Pinkie would get the message.
The pink party pony appeared to do so, shrugging her hooves before bouncing off. "Oh, are we playing hide go and seek?"
Rainbow watched the pink coated earth pony disappear over the horizon, before silently tip hoofing across the sky and back to her cloud. For good measure she even moved it a ways away so it wouldn't be so easily spotted. And she also made a motion to Twilight encouraging her not to say a word.
However, it wasn't long before the pegasus mare found herself being woken up by Pinkie Pie again. "Found you, Rainbow Dash!"
Startled awake again, Rainbow zoomed away as fast as her hooves and wings would let her! Only once she was certain she'd given Pinkie the slip did she allow herself to relax, settling down on a patch of grass next to a lake.
Alas, Pinkie surfaced from the lake just a moment or so later. She had blue colored flippers and a similarly colored snorkel mask and breathing tube. "Ah, come on, Rainbow Dash. I just wanna talk."
Rainbow Dash prepared to take off again, but decided it against upon sensing that Pinkie Pie would just chase after her once again. "Oh, what's the use?" She let out an unhappy sigh. "What is it you want? Can you make it quick, please? I really wanna get back to my power nap."
The pink party pony giggled with delight, putting her flippered hooves together. "Just need your help with a little something. I promise it'll be tons of fun or my name's not Pinkie Pie, which it is!"
The "little something" was a prank involving the use of a lone storm cloud. Pinkie was currently instructing her pegasus friend and pranking partner on where to position the cloud over town hall. "A little to the left," She instructed and Rainbow obeyed. "Now, a little to the right. Oops, too much. A little more to the left again. Now just a smidge to the right. Good!"
Rainbow sighed, forcing herself to grin.
Pinkie continued barking out orders related to the positioning of the cloud. "Move it up just a smidge. Now maybe down a tiny bit."
But Rainbow was fast losing what little patience she had and so she shouted! "Pinkie Pie!"
The pink party pony seemed to realize what the shout implied, so she sheepishly finished her instructions with. "Okay, that should be good enough. Now just wait for my signal." And she peered into the interior of town hall through a window.
Spike was currently inside, collecting blank scrolls. He was unaware that he was being watched and had no idea what was waiting for him once he exited the building. The little dragon was simply whistling a merry little tune to himself without a care in the world as he gathered the scrolls into a bundle.
"He's coming!" Pinkie eagerly shouted as she looked up to Rainbow Dash briefly, before peering back through the window. When she saw Spike put his claw on the front door and turn the knob, she knew he was about to exit. "Now!" She shouted as soon as she saw the door open.
Rainbow Dash obeyed, giving the storm cloud a little kick! A bolt of lightning escaped from the cloud and the loud boom of thunder soon followed!
Suspecting nothing, the flash and boom startled Spike and caused him to drop every single scroll he'd just gathered seconds earlier! They fell out of his claws and tumbled onto the ground in front of him.
Both ponies laughed themselves silly at the display, especially once they saw that they'd managed to give Spike a bad case of the hiccups.
In between hiccup fits, Spike was able to speak while he went about picking up the scrolls. "Good one, you guys. I never saw it coming." But when he picked up the scrolls his hiccups caused him to breath fire on them and make them disappear.
Pinkie paused in her laughter briefly as a concern reached her. "Are you okay, Spike?"
Spike nodded even while he couldn't stop the hiccups. "Of course, Pinkie Pie. Dragons are fire proof after all and my fire breath is enchanted. As long as I concentrate I can't set fire to anything I don't want to. Besides, the scrolls were blank," But then he thought. "I just hope Princess Celestia doesn't mind all the junk mail." And his thoughts briefly turned to the mental image of the sun princess being bombarded and overwhelmed with scrolls.
Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, was still laughing herself silly. "I really gotta hoof it to you, Pinkie Pie! You're pretty good at this prankster stuff. Almost as good as me, almost."
"Oh, of course," Pinkie replied with a wink. "Fluttershy's already told me about the kinds of crazy pranks you used to pull off as a filly."
The brash speedster smiled and seemed to struggle not to blush. "Yeah. But it's always more fun to pull it off with a friend," And that was when an idea came to her mind. "Hey, you know what? Why don't we team up and pull some pranks around town today? I wanna see what you're really capable of."
The pink party pony grinned. "Oh, I thought you'd never ask. Lucky for you, I know just where to go to get the best prank supplies ever!"
And so it was that the two prankster loving ponies spent the rest of the day going around town, carrying out various pranks (all in good fun, of course). They did such things as paint the apples on Sweet Apple Acres in a variety of different colors that washed off in water, give Twilight a bottle of invisible ink that made her think her quill wasn't working right and even present Rarity with flowers filled with sneezing powder.
Although Fluttershy was intended to be a target as well, Pinkie Pie managed to trick Rainbow Dash by putting ink around a telescope lens. The two friends had so much fun laughing about it that they forgot all about the squirting turtle they intended to use on Fluttershy, and just left it for the unsuspecting pegasus to poke and prod at.
"I was hoping to come by today and go on another spree with Rainbow Dash," Pinkie commented once the flashback had ended. "But I guess I came at a bad time."
Gilda nodded. "I'll say you did," And she even remarked. "Your pranks were fine, but they've got nothing on what Dash and I used to do," Then she turned to Rainbow Dash. "Remember, Dash, you promised me we'd get a flying session in this morning."
Rainbow seemed to agree. "I did say that, didn't I?" Upon receiving a confirming nod from Gilda she replied. "Well then, guess we'd better go now while it's still morning."
The young griffon nodded. "Now you're talking, Rainbow Dash! That's the Rainbow I know!" And she began flapping her wings! "Come on, slowpoke! Time's a wastin'."
Rainbow nodded and called out to Gilda. "In a minute, you go on ahead," She then turned to Pinkie Pie, noticing how she was starting to become just the tiniest bit upset. "Listen, Pinkie, Gilda came all the way to Ponyville to see me. I promise, I'll try to find time later on for us to get in some pranks. But for now, I wanna catch up with Gilda. You don't mind, do you? After all, she just got here."
Pinkie seemed to agree as she flashed a smile at her pegasus friend. "Oh, that's fine, I totally understand. You girls have fun."
Satisfied with the answer, Rainbow Dash took off. "Great! See you later then!"
The pink party pony watched her pegasus friend disappear into the skies, forcing back some tears as she called out (despite knowing Rainbow couldn't hear her). "I'll catch up with you," An unhappy sigh left her lips as she then finished. "Later." And her posture slouched ever so slightly as her party favor made a rather slow and sad sounding noise.
With Pinkie Pie no longer around, Rainbow Dash and Gilda quickly made up for lost time as they flew through the skies around Ponyville and just generally had a fun time together. In fact, as far as both were concerned it really was just like old times. The two of them flying about with no cares in the world and just each other for company.
At last, however, the two friends stopped to rest on a cloud. "Now that was sweet," Gilda proclaimed while looking across to her friend. "You haven't lost your touch, Dash."
Rainbow smirked. "Glad you noticed, Gilda. But you're not half bad yourself. You're every bit the awesome flyer I remember you being. So, what's new with you?"
Gilda shrugged a talon, completely unconcerned. "Oh, nothing you'd care about, Rainbow Dash. Just the same old boring griffon stuff, really. You wouldn't care."
"Guess not since you seem to be doing fine for yourself," Rainbow Dash commented, suspecting nothing from how quickly Gilda had dismissed the subject. "Anyway, we still have some time to kill. So now what? Any ideas?"
Before either flyer had a chance to say anything, however, they were surprised to be greeted by the familiar face of Pinkie Pie. "Hey there, you two."
Both Gilda and Rainbow were surprised and confused by what they were seeing. Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to not only catch up to them unnoticed, but was now bouncing up to their position via a trampoline.
Pinkie, for her part, was just explaining herself while bouncing and repeatedly poking her head up through the clouds for a moment at best each time. "It's later. And I caught up. Hope you don't mind."
"Not at all, Pinkie Pie," Rainbow remarked while giggling. "You are so random sometimes, you know that, Pinkie?"
But Gilda was nowhere near as pleased to see Pinkie as Rainbow was. If either had been watching or paying attention they might have seen the griffon cast a harsh and judging glare at the earth pony. Yet instead of saying anything about it she just cleared her throat, drawing attention to herself. "So Dash, think you got enough gas left to beat me to that cloud over there?" She gestured a claw to her aforementioned target.
Rainbow Dash's ears immediately perked up upon hearing Gilda's request. "A race? Oh, you are so on, Gilda!"
The griffon smiled. "Good," And she quickly barked out. "One, two, three, go." And both flyers took off as fast as they could, leaving Pinkie far behind!
The race ended almost as quickly as it had begun, both seeming to touch the cloud at the same time. But that didn't stop Rainbow Dash from claiming victory. "Ha, I win!"
Gilda immediately protested. "As if. I won."
"No way." Rainbow shook her head in disbelief.
Gilda only nodded and insisted. "Yes way."
The brash speedster only groaned. "Oh, come on, I was way ahead of you and you know it!"
Gilda replied while snickering. "I don't think so. Remember back in camp? I–"
Rainbow Dash immediately moved to silence Gilda's claim before she could finish her sentence. "-I told you we don't talk about that! There's absolutely no way you beat me, Gilda! No way, no how, didn't happen!"
The young griffon only rolled her eyes in response. "Whatever. I know I won and you know it too."
Before any further arguments could unfold, however, Pinkie Pie happened to show up with a bunch of colorful balloons tied around her body. "It was really close, you guys are amazing!" She excitedly proclaimed. "But actually, Gilda, Rainbow Dash is right. She did beat you, just by a teeny weeny itty bitty hair, or a teeny weeny itty bitty feather in your case."
Rainbow, taking advantage of the confirmation of her victory, couldn't resist a gloat. "Ha! I told you so, Gilda! Good thing Pinkie Pie's here to keep you honest, G."
Gilda seemed to briefly get flustered, but then she quickly gestured to a cloud ways away in height. "Oh yeah? Well how about a real challenge?" And she told Rainbow Dash. "Last one up to that cloud there is a rotten dragon egg. Go!"
Pinkie watched as Rainbow took off as fast as possible, but Gilda didn't do the same. The griffon instead flew over to Pinkie and glared at the pink party pony. "Stick to the ground where you belong." And using the sharp claws on her talons she popped every single one of Pinkie's balloons, causing the party pony to rapidly lose altitude!
Rainbow Dash didn't suspect anything when Pinkie Pie didn't show up and Gilda was slow to follow. "What took you so long, slowpoke?" She taunted at Gilda.
"Sorry, just had to take care of a little something first," Gilda innocently replied. "You know how it is."
Just then, however, Pinkie Pie happened to show up in a strange looking, peddle powered contraption. It was pink and white in color and spun blades around in a circular motion to achieve flight. "You girls almost got away from me back there," She greeted. "I never expected to have to use this, but it's better than a trampoline or balloons."
"You again?" Gilda remarked in what sounded like annoyance. But she quickly forced a smile onto her face before suddenly she seemed to get an idea. "Hey, Rainbow Dash," She told her fellow flyer. "You got any new moves in your arsenal, or are you one hundred percent old school?"
The brash speedster could hardly resist the incentive to show off. "Thought you'd never ask, Gilda. Just sit back and keep your eyes peeled, this one's gonna take a while!" And with a flap of her wings she was gone once again, leaving Gilda alone with Pinkie Pie.
Just like before, it didn't take long after Rainbow's absence for Gilda to show a different side of herself. "Hey, Pinkie Pie," She called out in a tone of voice that was now anything but pleasant. "I got a message for you."
"What sort of message?" Pinkie Pie innocently wondered.
Gilda gestured a claw. "Come a little closer and I'll tell you. I don't like to shout."
Suspecting nothing, Pinkie Pie propelled her flying machine forward until she was almost face to face with Gilda.
It was then that the griffon flew right up to Pinkie and wrapped a talon around the flying contraption, her eyes locking right onto Pinkie's! "What part of 'Get Lost' don't you understand, bozo?! Rainbow Dash doesn't need friends like you holding her back now that she's got me around! So know your place, Stinkie Pie, and BACK OFF! And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Rainbow Dash from now on!"
With that, as if to make herself heard, Gilda swung at the flying machine and damaged it! It began to spin out of control! Gilda then sat down on a cloud, watching as the source of her annoyance spun down to the ground with the out of control flying machine. "That'll teach her." She thought to herself.
Rainbow landed back on the cloud a moment later, having seen nothing at all. "How was that, Gilda?!" She taunted.
Gilda pretended to have seen the entire stunt. "Oh, it was amazing, Dash! You're the best of the best alright. Bet you'll be head of the Wonderbolts someday."
Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. "Hay yeah, I will be!" Then her moderate violet eyes took notice of the absence of something, or rather someone. "Hey, where's Pinkie?"
Gilda feigned ignorance while she remarked. "Beats me. Seems like she just comes and goes whenever she pleases. But don't worry about her, I'm sure you'll see her around eventually," Under her breath she added. "Hopefully on the ground where she belongs." Fortunately for her, Rainbow Dash didn't hear that last part.
As for Pinkie Pie, she was thankfully unharmed when her flying machine crash landed in an empty field. But upon shaking off the dust and standing up she was quite dismayed to find her flying machine was in pieces. "Oh no! And I just finished building it too," She thought to herself. "Just what is that Gilda's problem?!" But that would have to wait for a while. Right now, the pink party pony needed to gather up the broken parts of her flying machine so that she could hopefully rebuild it someday.
Upon returning to Sugarcube Corner and putting the broken machine parts away, Pinkie Pie was still in a very bad mood.
Mrs. Cake was quick to take notice of the pronounced frown on Pinkie's face, and being quite concerned she decided it best to figure out just what had gone wrong.
Pinkie was soon venting about her bad experience with Gilda to Mrs. Cake, relieved to know that she had an audience. "And then she had the nerve to tell me to 'Get Lost' even though I've been trying to find her and Rainbow Dash," She grumbled while pacing back and forth. "She even told me to stay away and called me 'Stinkie Pie'."
Mrs. Cake was more than a little concerned by the remarks, but did her best not to let it show. "Oh, now I'm sure she didn't really mean it, Pinkie," She attempted to sooth the pink party pony's hurt feelings while placing a hoof to her back. "She probably came across as more forceful than she intended."
Pinkie Pie would hear nothing of such a suggestion. "I know what I heard, I know when I've been insulted! If she doesn't like me she can just say it to my face, she doesn't have to break my stuff! I've never met a griffon as mean as Gilda! In fact, I've never even met a griffon period. But I'm sure if I did it would be nowhere near as nasty as Gilda is."
The plump baker was silent for a moment while she pondered this declaration. "Pinkie, don't take this the wrong way, but have you considered that maybe you're... well... jealous of Gilda?"
The pink party pony spun around in disbelief. "What?! Me?! Jealous?! Why would I be jealous?!"
Mrs. Cake forced back a gulp. "Well, you said it yourself, you wanted to spend time with Rainbow Dash today. And you were kind of unhappy when she went to hang out with Gilda instead."
"Yeah, but I gave them time. Rainbow Dash said we could meet up later, and I waited until later to meet up with them," Pinkie firmly insisted. "Rainbow Dash clearly wanted me to be around. It was Gilda who didn't want me hanging around."
Mrs. Cake only suggested in response. "Perhaps because she wanted to spend time with Rainbow Dash without you also being there," And then she added. "Maybe you should apologize to Gilda, much as I'm sure she'll apologize for breaking your flying machine."
Pinkie only groaned anew. "She'd better apologize! I don't think Gilda even knows how long it took me to get that think working! And now I'm gonna have to start all over again!"
Mrs. Cake then cautioned. "Pinkie, you really shouldn't get so wound up like this. It's not healthy for you," And she was quick to offer. "Why don't you take some time off to cool down? And if you see Gilda, see if it's possible to start over."
The pink party pony reluctantly seemed to obey. "Fine, I guess I can do that. But I swear I'm not jealous. I'm fine with Rainbow Dash having other friends. I just don't like it when her other friends are mean to me." And with that she trotted out of the bakery to be alone with her thoughts for a while.
The beautiful weather did seem to brighten Pinkie's spirits a little bit as she soon began to think to herself. "You know, maybe Mrs. Cake is right. Maybe the only one who has a problem is me. Maybe Gilda isn't actually a big meanie grumpy mean-meanie-pants like I think she is. Maybe I'm just being a big jealous judgmental jealous-jealousy-pants."
Some time later, Pinkie Pike was feeling far less angry and upset about what had happened with Gilda. She was looking forward to seeing the griffon again and starting anew. A friendship with a griffon was sure to be interesting.
The opportunity came sooner than the earth pony mare might have thought. For as she was sitting alone at a table out in the town, sipping a milkshake through a straw, she happened to see both Rainbow Dash and Gilda land. Neither of them even noticed her.
Rainbow shared a laugh with Gilda while stretching her wings. "It's been fun, Gilda. Glad you're liking Ponyville."
Gilda only commented in reply. "It's a nice little town, if you're into that sort of thing anyway."
Rainbow Dash then let out a sigh. "Yeah? Well, guess you'll be seeing more of it. I've got some weather jobs I need to take care of around here. Shouldn't take me too long though," And she was quick to suggest. "Just hang out and I'll come find you as soon as I'm done, okay?"
Gilda eagerly nodded. "Works for me. I'm gonna go chow down, because I am one hungry griffon!"
The brash speedster nodded back in reply. "Sure, you do that. See ya later." And soon she had taken to the skies once again, leaving Gilda alone.
Pinkie watched as she saw Gilda making her way past several fruit stands, her tail sticking out and just so happening to get near some apples on one of the stands.
An unsuspecting Granny Smith, who had been sniffing at the apples, spotted Gilda's tail and freaked out! She didn't seem to realize what it was and her eyes went wide with horror and shock! "It's a rattler!" She cried at the top of her lungs! "Run for the hills!" She tried to run away as fast as her legs would carry her, but she couldn't get very far.
Pinkie had seen the whole thing unfold and was anything but pleased, especially since Gilda hadn't bothered to pop out and explain herself. "Granny Smith didn't know that wasn't a snake. That was uncalled for!" She thought to herself, before realizing what she was thinking and tried to correct herself. "Now, now, Pinkie. It was just an accident. Nopony got hurt. I'm sure Gilda didn't mean to cause any harm."
Meanwhile, either not knowing or not caring about having startled a pony (especially one like Granny Smith who scared fairly easily), Gilda continued to keep her tail swishing around and whistled innocently. But when no one was looking she managed to swipe an apple, quickly tucking it away beneath a wing where it was impossible to be seen by the naked eye.
Pinkie Pie ponded the table in disbelief! "So Gilda's a thief?! I knew there was something off about her! She likes to pick on innocent ponies for fun and she likes to steal apples!" However, she again corrected herself upon realizing she was making a rash assumption (despite the rather troubling displays she was seeing). "There you go again, Pinkie. Just wait, Gilda might pay for it eventually. Besides, it's only one apple. Gilda maybe doesn't know you're supposed to pay for your food before you eat it."
What happened next, though, would leave no doubts in Pinkie's mind about who Gilda really was. For at that very moment an unsuspecting Fluttershy came trotting through, escorting a flock of ducks. Because she walking backwards to keep an eye on the ducks, she didn't see Gilda until she bumped right into the griffon.
The impact wasn't very severe, but it was enough to make Gilda drop the apple on the ground. And rather than apologizing, the griffon immediately snapped! "Hey, I was walking here! I ain't small, you must've been able to avoid me!"
Fluttershy spun around, coming face to face with a rather angry looking Gilda. She immediately whimpered. "O-oh, oh d-dear. I... I'm so sorry. I just..."
"Quit your stuttering!" Gilda snapped as she narrowed her eyes at Fluttershy. "You cost me my free lunch! You wanna make something of it or what?!"
The pegasus mare whimpered, trying to hide behind her light pink mane. "N-no. I didn't mean to... could we just..."
Gilda didn't bother to wait for a full reply. She instead let out a fierce roar directly in Fluttershy's face, scaring the poor pegasus mare half to death and reducing her to tears! And the young griffon didn't even bother to say she was sorry. "A waste of my time." She scoffed and flew off.
Unbeknownst to Gilda though, Pinkie Pie had seen everything. And the pink party pony knew there was no longer a defense for Gilda's actions. "So you're a meanie pants and a thief and now a bully too, Gilda?" She snorted, steam escaping her nostrils. "Well no one and I mean no one treats Fluttershy like that and gets away with it! Not on my watch, and I don't even have a watch!" And with that, the gears in her mind started to turn. "This calls for extreme measures: Pinkie Pie Style!"
Sometime later, Pinkie had gotten everything ready for a "surprise" party for Gilda to be held at Sugarcube Corner. And she was now greeting the various invited guests as they showed up (though Gilda had yet to appear).
Fluttershy was standing near Pinkie and was a little bit concerned about what her party planning friend was apparently trying to do. "Uh, Pinkie," She reluctantly spoke up. "About this party of yours for Gilda? You... uh... really think this is a good idea? I mean..."
Pinkie Pie seemed to sense her friend's doubts, but was quick to reassure her. "Relax, Fluttershy. I know what I'm doing. Don't you worry your pretty little head about mean old Gilda," She gave her pegasus friend a pat on the head. "Your Auntie Pinkie Pie's got it all taken care of."
Fluttershy snorted as she watched Pinkie trot away. Although not intentional the remark had felt patronizing. "I'm a year older than you, you know." She complained with narrowed eyes, but alas Pinkie was too far away to be heard.
Just then, Gilda finally arrived and she suspected nothing.
Pinkie cheerfully trotted up to the griffon with a bright smile on her face. "Gilda! Glad you could make it!" She greeted her guest. "I know we got off on the wrong hoof or claw in your case, but I hope it's not too late for us to start over. I figured I could throw you one of my signature 'Pinkie Pie Parties' since you're new to town."
Gilda seemed to nod in reply. "A party for me? You shouldn't have. Guess maybe you're not a totally loser after all."
The pink party pony continued to grin. "Great! Come on in, the party's just getting started!" And she held out a hoof for Gilda to shake.
But when the griffon shook Pinkie's hoof she was shocked both figuratively and literally! It turned out that Pinkie Pie had somehow managed to conceal a joy buzzer underneath her hoof. There were a couple of muffled laughs before the moment passed.
Rainbow Dash even remarked while slapping a hoof across one of her legs. "Ha! Good one, Pinkie! The old joy buzzer greeting! That's a classic."
Gilda nervously chuckled while muttering under her breath. "Yeah, good one, Pinkie. You're hilarious."
Rainbow, suspecting nothing, just remarked. "Come on, G, it's just a prank. No need to get all bent out of shape. Don't tell me you've lost your sense of humor."
Gilda shook her head. "I haven't. I just wasn't expecting to be pranked at my own party, that's all."
Rainbow only replied to her friend. "Lighten up. Pinkie's just trying to make you laugh. That what she does best," And she was quick to offer. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest of my friends."
The young griffon nodded in reply. "Sure, in a minute," Then she glared at Pinkie Pie. She had her suspicions that the joy buzzer "prank" had been intended for a far different purpose from what its host might claim. She promptly told the pink party pony. "Hey, Pinkie Pie. I know what you're up to."
Pinkie appeared to feign ignorance and innocence. "Well good, I hope so. This party isn't really much of a surprise party."
Gilda had to resist the urge to groan. "No no no. What I mean is, I've got my eye on you."
"And I've got my eye on you!" Pinkie innocently replied. "Gotta make sure the guest of honor has the most fun possible after all," Then she made an announcement to all the gathered guests. "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Gilda, a long-time and very dear friend of Rainbow Dash. Let's all honor her and welcome her to Ponyville."
The ponies gathered didn't need to be told twice. They all started cheering and clapping their hooves, determined to give Gilda a big welcome.
Gilda quickly forgot to be suspicious of Pinkie Pie, at least for the time being. A party was a party regardless of who was hosting it.
Pinkie was then quick to offer a treat to the honored guest. "Help yourself, Gilda. Snacks and refreshments are on the house. Or I guess they're on the bakery although this is kind of my house too."
"You mean you live here?" Gilda questioned.
The pink party pony nodded. "Yup. For yours truly there is no better place to be," Then she led Gilda over to a nearby table. "Go right ahead, take whatever you want. Just watch out for some hidden 'surprises'."
Gilda immediately eyed some familiar looking white colored objects on the table and snatched them up. "Vanilla lemon drops. Well, don't mind if I do," She scarfed the drops quick as a flash. But then a few seconds later she began to spew fire out of her mouth as Pinkie held up a marshmallow on a stick to toast! "HOT!" Gilda screamed at the top of her lungs, immediately rushing around to look for anything to cool down her burning tongue!
Rainbow shouted out to her friend! "Quick, Gilda, the punch!"
Gilda rushed over to the punch bowl as fast as she could and grabbed the first glass she could see! But when she tried to fill up the glass with punch she found that most of it was spilling it out through some holes at the bottom. So she had to resort to dunking her entire face into the punch bowl just to get a drink and finally cool off her burning tongue.
Several ponies laughed at the display as Pinkie Pie commented. "Well, whaddya know, pepper in the vanilla lemon drops and the punch served in a dribble glass! What are the odds?"
Gilda groaned in annoyance. "So funny I forgot to laugh." She muttered. It was fast becoming difficult for her to keep her temper under control. And it didn't help that she was so sure it was Pinkie Pie who was pulling off all these pranks as an act of revenge.
Unfortunately for Gilda, it seemed like everywhere she turned she was the victim of another prank that she was sure was meant for her. Whether it was canned fake snakes in the presents or trick candles on a cake. Yet whenever she tried to interrogate Pinkie, the party pony continued to perform her routine of ignorance and innocence. It seemed like nothing would make her admit to what Gilda thought for sure was obvious. And all the while Gilda's temper continued to simmer despite her best efforts to keep it in check.
At last, it was time for "Pin The Tail On The Pony" and Gilda was soon blindfolded while holding a purple colored tail in her mouth. "What do you think you're doing?!" She complained as she felt herself be spun around by Pinkie Pie.
Pinkie giggled while explaining. "Whaddya think, silly? You never played 'Pin The Tail On The Pony' before? We spin you around and then you try to walk to the pony and pin the tail. If you get it right you win a prize," Once she'd spun Gilda around a good number of times she stopped and instructed. "Okay, now just walk straight and pin that tail."
But Gilda had other ideas. "Yeah right, how dumb do you think I am? I'm not gonna fall for that old trick," And she began walking off in a different direction. "If you say I should walk straight then you're obviously just leading me into another one of your pranks."
"No, Gilda!" Pinkie protested as she saw the blindfolded griffon walking the wrong way. "Come back! The poster is this-"
But the warning was too late! Gilda stumbled right into the kitchen, knocking over several pots and pans and causing quite a ruckus in the process. She finally stumbled back out, removing the blindfold as she discovered that the purple tail had ended up on her beak.
That was the straw that broke the camel's back! Gilda could hold back her frustration and fury no longer! She reared back and let out a mighty roar! A roar so powerful and so fearsome it made everypony stop and look at her. "Oh, that's it! I have had it with this party and these pranks!" She complained while flapping her wings. "This is how you ponies get your kicks, isn't it?! Messing around with me at a party. I'm starting to wish I never came here if all I had in store for me was humiliation!"
"Gilda, calm down!" Rainbow pleaded to her friend. "You're making a scene!"
But Gilda was in such a state of mind that she refused to listen. "Shut up, Dash! You obviously had no idea what this party involved, but then how could you?" She soon locked eyes with the target of her scorn, Pinkie Pie. "This was all a set up. Admit it, Pinkie Pie! You did all of this on purpose! You were just trying to make me angry, weren't you? Well guess what, dweeb?! You succeeded!"
Pinkie again professed her innocence. "Why would you think I'd want to make you angry? I never meant for any of this to happen. I just wanted us to be friends."
Gilda snorted. "Well too bad, I don't recall asking for your friendship! And you know what else?! Rainbow Dash doesn't need friends like you! I told you before, Pinkie! I'm the only friend Dash needs!" She proceeded to fly over to the brash speedster. "Come on, Dash. Let's bail on these pathetic losers. We're too good for them."
However, Rainbow replied by glaring at Gilda. "No, Gilda. I'm not going anywhere," And she then confessed. "You wanna know something? All those pranks you fell victim to weren't Pinkie Pie's doing. She was only responsible for the joy buzzer. I set up the rest of the pranks, and they weren't all meant for you."
Gilda stumbled back in disbelief as if she'd just been backstabbed! "No! There's... there's no way! You... you gotta be kidding me!" And she accusingly pointed a hoof. "It's Pinkie Pie! I know it, it has to be! She was trying to make me look like a fool."
Pinkie Pie shook her head in reply. "You've got it all wrong, Gilda. I set this party up because I wanted to help you. I thought if you made some friends it would you help turn that big old frown of yours upside down." She briefly flipped her head upside down to demonstrate.
Rainbow then declared. "And you most certainly didn't need any help making yourself look bad. You did that all on your own," She trotted forward, frowning at the griffon. "I don't know what's gotten into you, Gilda. You weren't always like this. You used to be a lot less mean. This isn't how I thought my old friend would treat my new friends. But it seems like being cool is all you ever care about these days."
For a moment, Gilda was silent. She seemed uncertain of how to reply. But at last she found the words she wanted to use. "Well, Dash, if that's how you wanna play it then fine. It's me or them!"
"Hey now!" The brash speedster protested. "I don't wanna have to chose, Gilda. I want to be your friend, but not if you're gonna use my friendship as an excuse to be cruel to others. If you still wanna be friends then you need to fix that attitude problem of yours."
Gilda only shook her head and growled slightly. "Forget it, Dash! You can keep your pony friends for all I care. Don't ever talk to me again! I'm out of here for good!" And she unfolded her wings, flying away while letting out a screech of frustration.
All Rainbow could say in response was. "Not cool," But as soon as Gilda had left she apologized. "I'm really sorry about that, everypony. I swear, Gilda wasn't like this all time when we were in flight school. I don't know what could've caused her to change."
"Hey, you couldn't help it," Pinkie declared while trotting over to Rainbow. "Even I didn't think Gilda would be that way. It's really too bad. She could've had so many wonderful friends. I don't mind it when my friends have other friends, so long as they're willing to share those friends with me. After all, isn't that what friendship is all about?"
Rainbow Dash nodded. "I guess it does, Pinkie," Then she looked across to Twilight. "What do you think, Twilight? Think that'll make a good friendship lesson for Princess Celestia?"
Twilight nodded back. "It most definitely should."
"Great!" Spike eagerly declared. "Should I get to writing it then?"
"Maybe a little later, Spike," Pinkie insisted. "Because we've still got a whole lot of party left to finish!"
Yet while the party was getting underway again (albeit without its guest of honor), Twilight began thinking in her mind about the letter she was going to send to Princess Celestia. In her mind it sounded something like this:
Dearest Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that it can be hard to accept whenever somepony you like wants to spend time with somepony else, especiallt when it's somepony who's not so nice.
Although it's impossible to control who your friends hang out with all the time, it is possible to control your own behavior. And that's what's most important.
So long as you continue to be a good friend the difference between a false friend and one who's true will surely come to light.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
And perhaps feeling a tad inspired by all that unfolded at the party and over the previous day, Twilight made a mental note to herself to send a "spare" bottle of invisible ink to Princess Celestia along with the letter. She was sure her mentor would understand.